The present invention relates to an improved control apparatus for remote-controlling respective operational conditions, logical connections, etc. of a plurality of equipments in a music system where the equipments are connected together via a network, as well as improved integrated software for remote-controlling the operational conditions, logical connections, etc. of the equipments in the music system.
In the fields of networks constructed in accordance with a predetermined multimedia-compliant communications standard (e.g., IEEE1394), there have been known music systems arranged to transmit and receive (i.e., communicate) waveform data (e.g., audio waveform sample data) and performance data (e.g., performance event data, such as MIDI data); among examples of such music systems is a music system developed by the assignee of the instant application and called by its trademark “mLAN”. In such music systems, each comprising a plurality of nodes, such as a control apparatus like a personal computer and various music equipments (e.g., synthesizer, tone generator device, recorder and mixer), are connected together, waveform data and MIDI data can be transferred from a given one of the nodes to any other desired one of the nodes in real time. Among various examples of techniques pertaining to the music systems is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-32606 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Literature 1”) which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,181.
Equipments for connecting between input and output lines of various music equipments, such as a keyboard, sequencer and mixer, are commonly known as “patch bays”. Invention concerning a virtual patch bay for logically setting a desired connection between equipments (nodes) interconnected via a network as noted above is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2001-203732 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Literature 2”) which corresponds to U.S. Patent publication No. US-2001-021188-A1. Music data are transmitted from an output-side node to an input-side node via the logical connection set by the patch bay.
In the aforementioned conventional music systems, however, merely connecting a music equipment to the network can achieve no logical connection of the music equipment in the network, so that no data can be transmitted and received to and from the music equipment. In order to allow data to be transmitted and received to and from such a music equipment newly connected to the network, a patch bay application program, as disclosed in patent literature 2, is activated, on a personal computer connected to the network, to set an appropriate logical connection of the music equipment.
Performing setting of operational parameters etc. of various music equipments by a user operating a graphic screen via a personal computer and GUI in a network is known as “remote control”. Software for such remote control is provided separately for each of the types of the music equipments, as shown in an instruction manual of Studio Manager for DM2000 (trademark), instruction manual of XG Editor (trademark) and instruction manual of DME Manager (trademark) (which are instruction manuals of commercially-available software and will hereinafter be referred to as “Non-patent Literature 1, “Non-patent Literature 2” and “Non-patent Literature 3”, respectively). According to the above-mentioned remote controlling software, operational parameter memory areas, similar in structure to memory areas provided in the individual music equipments (that are to be controlled) for storing operational parameters, are provided in the personal computer, and a screen is displayed, on the graphic screen of the personal computer, for editing various operational parameters of the individual music equipments to be controlled. As a user performs editing operation on the editing screen, an operational parameter corresponding to the editing operation is updated in the operational parameter memory area of the personal computer. In this way, editing operation on various operational parameters in the individual music equipments can be emulated on the computer. Further, by the updated contents of the operational parameters being sequentially exchanged between the personal computer and the individual music equipments in the network, identity of the operational parameters can be maintained in the respective memory areas of the personal computer and individual music equipments.
Further, each of the music equipments, such as a mixer and effector, has a scene store/scene recall function of collectively storing current settings of operational parameters (e.g., settings of various switches and operators) as a setting file of a “scene” and calling and reproducing the stored “scene”. Such a scene store/scene recall function too can be executed, for each of the music equipments, on the computer using the remote controlling software. However, because a different remote controlling software is provided for each type of music equipment as noted above, the equipments of different types can not be controlled simultaneously or collectively. In this regard, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2005-202138 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Literature 3”) corresponding to U.S. Patent publication No. US-2005-159832-A1 discloses collectively remote-controlling a plurality of equipments in a network, using a software program intended to collectively manage the remote control of the individual equipments.
However, setting, change, etc. of the logical connections between the music equipments in the music network is controlled via dedicated connection setting software (patch bay software) separate from the remote controlling software as noted above, and thus, different types of equipments can not be controlled simultaneously in terms of setting, change, etc. of the logical connections. Therefore, the remote control of the individual equipments by the personal computer and the control for synchronizing the individual equipments (actual equipments) in the music system (i.e., control for achieving coincidence or agreement in operational parameter between the personal computer and the equipments and agreement in logical connection setting between the individual equipments) can not be performed collectively for all of the equipments and has to be performed separately for each of the equipments.